Money for new rope!

A message in a recent communication from the Neighbourhood Forum:

"The Forum has a budget of £16,885 remaining for allocation in this financial year. Any organisation wishing to apply for funding should contact the Neighbourhood Development Team on 01539 713180 for an application form. The last meeting of this financial year will be held at Urswick Parish Rooms on Thursday 5th February 2009, starting at 7.30pm."

This 'sad' message should lead to some creative thinking!

Why 'sad' ?

To me it's a consequence of the non-functioning of the Forum.

Never heard of it?

Proves my point! They meet in the area six times a year!

A friend of mine, very involved with group activities, attended the early meetings some years ago, with great enthusiasm. However he stopped going because he concluded that the meetings had been hijacked by the County Councillors.

This has been my conclusion too, and am still waiting for a meeting to be held in Ulverston on Affordable Housing which I asked for over 18 months ago. It was this inaction that contributed to my decision to run for County Council.

After first struggling to get this on the agenda and 'going to the top' and getting nowhere, then finding how differently other Forums acrosss the country operated, I decided to get stuck in and achieve reform from within.

One of the first things I will do when I get in (!) is to strive to get more local involvement and make sure that there are lots of community groups who are all crying out for 'money for new rope'!

If you have an idea and a group of people, then I can help you 'get in shape' to qualify by February 5th! You could form a residents association for a start. The Happy Street Residents Association sounds good to me!